Island



(No Model.)

F. H. WILKS.

BREEOH LOADING ORDNANOE. No. 446,496. Patented Feb. 17, 1891.

III I M flu/anion QM owl W $9M 74. M Q.@ @a m AIENT IB Es Y "FRAN'K'HENRY w LKs; 0F NEwPoRn R-HonEISLAND.

BREECH-LQADING,ORDNANCE...

srnom'ronrron forming pm of Letters Patent No. 446,496, dated February 17,1891.

Application filed April 28, 1390. Serial No. 349,762. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern..-

l 3e it known that I, FRANK HENRY WILKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at New port, in the county of Newport and State of Rhode Island, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Breech -Loading Ordnance,of which the followingis a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce breech loading ordnance capable bf rapid firing; and it consists in the peculiar arrangement and operation of' the breech-block and firing device.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my mvention, in which' Figure 1 represents a side view of a piece of ordnance constructed in accordance with my invention as it appears when ready for firing. Fig. 2 represents 'a side view in vertlcal section of the working parts of the same. Fig. 3 represents a rear view of the breech of the gun. Fig.4 represents a top view of the same; and Fig. 5 represents a view in vertical section of the breech-block, showing the retracting device.

Similarletters refer to similar parts th roughout the several views.

a represents the breech of the gun, and Z) represents the breech-block adapted to move vertically in the same, and which is' provided with the groove d, which receives the end of the screw 2, which limits the movement up and down of the breech-block. The rear face of the breech-block bin the lower half of its length is provided with the rack 0, Fig. 2, the teeth of which engage with the teeth of the pinion n on the shaft f, which shaft has its hearings in the. block w and is provided with the crank c.

The.breech-block is provided with an opening'm for the reception of the cartridge, which when the breech-block is atits lowest position (as in Figs. 1 and 2) coincides with the bore of the gun.

Alongside of the rack 0 and reaching from the bottom of the breech-block to the bore of the same is a groove in which is pivoted at Z the bar g, provided with spring 1 and hav* ing an inclined face at its lower end, as shown in Fig. 5.

I The construction and operation of the firing device are illustrated in Fig. 2. dis the firing: pin, provided with the collar t, the stud v,

pin 7. is exactly opposite to the cap in the cartridge-shell, and to explode said cap and fire the cartridge the firing-pin i is drawn to the rear by means of the leverk until the stud c is out of the groove u,when it is turned slightly to one side, so that the stud v rests on the end of the plug h. By means of the lanyard z,

- which is made fast to the lever is the firingpin isturned so that the stud '0 W11]. again enter the groove h, when the expansive force of the spring s causes the front end of the firingpin to strike the cap in the cartridge with sufficient force to explode it. The spring ris of sufficient tension to slightly retract the end of the firing-pin from thecap after it is exploded.

To load the gun the breech-block is raised by means of the crank c to its highest limit, as shown by the dotted lines to in Figs. 2 and 3. The opening an in the-breech-block then coincides with the groove 9. The cartridge is then placed in the groove 19 andpushed for ward into th bore min the breech-block, and by means of he crank o the breech-block is then lowered to its position and the gun fired.

To reload the gun the breech-block is raised as before, which action causes the inclined face of the bar g to strike on the lower .edge of the breech of the gun and pressesthelower end of said lever to the front. This action causes the upper end of the barg, which rests under the rim of the cartridge-shell, to move to the rear and carry the cartridge-shell along with it, thus loosening and starting the shell from its seat, when it is removed and a cartridge substituted therefor.

I claim- In breech-loading ordnance, the combina tion of a gun having an opening through its breech at right angles with the bore, a breech block provided with an opening adapted to receive and contain the cartridge while it is fired and having a rack in one of its sides adapted to engage with the teeth of a pinion which is journaled on the gun, whereby the breech-block is moved sutficiently to receive a cartridge, and having a depression in one of its sides adapted to receive the end. of :1; pin projecting from the inside of'the opening in the breech of the gm1,whereby the movement of the'breech-bloek in said opening is limited, and provided in its rear fa'cc with a groove reaching from the bore of said breech-block to the bottom of the same, a bar pivoted in said groove, its upper end adapted to lie under the rim of the cartridge and its lower end :0 provided with an inc1ine adapted to strike 1 the rear face of the'opening in the breech of the gun'wheu the breech-block, is moved to insert; a cartridge and thus retract the cartridge-shell, and means to explode the cartri( ge, all as set forth.

FRANK HENRY WILKS.

Witnesses:

H: T. GREENE, A. F. BALL. 

